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Fall 2014: Six Returning Shows We’re Looking Forward To

1. Sleepy Hollow

Sleepy Hollow took us by complete surprise last year. From the premise alone, we were expecting it to be godawful. A modern-day Sleepy Hollow in which Ichabod Crane winds up in present-day and the Headless Horseman is terrorizing the streets? Where Ichabod Crane must team up with a young African-American female lieutenant to stop the apocalypse from happening? Washington Irving must be rolling in his grave.

He might still be, but, somehow, it worked for us. The chemistry between Abbie and Ichabod was a huge selling point, and the horror of the monsters sent to destroy them never failed to creep us out. The show manages to not taking itself too seriously, but invests a lot of time into developing these character and getting us to root for them. The season finale’s big twist (which we won’t spoil here for those who haven’t yet seen it) rates among our favorite ‘holy shit’ moments in television. Above all, Sleepy Hollow has Nicole Beharie and Tom Mison – and those two are what keeps this show afloat.

(And none for Katrina Crane. Bye.)

Catch the Season 2 premiere of Sleepy Hollow on Monday, September 22nd.

2. The Good Wife

The Good Wife is one of those rare shows that just keeps getting better and better every season. Last season Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies) broke away from Lockhart & Gardner – the law firm that gave her a job after her politician husband’s very public sex scandal – to form her own firm with fellow lawyer, Cary Agos (Matt Czuchry). Naturally, this led to a lot of conflict between the two firms, and especially between Alicia and Will Gardner, Alicia’s love-interest-turned-rival.

You’d think this drama alone would be juicy enough to sustain an entire season, but midway through, The Good Wife threw us a curveball of completely unforeseen proportions (those of you who’ve seen it know exactly what we’re talking about). We can’t wait to see what season six brings.

Alicia Florrick and co. make their return on The Good Wife this Sunday, September 21st.

3. American Horror Story: Freak Show

Though previous seasons have been hit and miss, American Horror Story has always done “bat-shit insane” well. That doesn’t look to be changing for their upcoming storyline, featuring, among other things, killer clowns, a bearded lady, conjoined twins, and Evan Peters-with-flippers-for-hands. Freak Show will be set in 1952, focusing on one of the last remaining “freak shows” in existence. Elsa Mars (Jessica Lange) is their benevolent benefactor, who will do whatever it takes to keep the show running and the circus performers together.

There’s also the fact that this will reportedly be the final season for Lange, whose performances on the show have been a must-see. We fully expect her to go out with a bang.

Freak Show premieres on Wednesday, October 8th on FX.

4. The Walking Dead

Zombies, galore! That’s essentially the big selling point of The Walking Dead, and last season didn’t disappoint. While there was no Big Death in the Season 4 finale, as there has been in past season finales, our main characters aren’t exactly out of danger. With the prison destroyed, Rick, Daryl, Carl, and Michonne reunited with Glenn, Maggie, Sasha, and Bob – along with new characters Tara, Eugene, and Abraham – in Terminus, the home of a cannibalistic cult. So yeah… things aren’t looking good. But we’re definitely excited to see where this goes, and if our favorite characters will survive long enough to see Season 5.

Not to mention one of the scariest villains from the comics – Negan – will show up sometime in Season 4. Less appealing is the possibility that The Governor might show up again – in flashbacks, of course.

The Walking Dead is back on Sunday, October 12th.

5. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

While it was a struggle to get through, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on ABC got much, much better towards the end of its first season and we’re interested to see if the show can continue that momentum into Season 2. There was some major plot twists and big reveals and the creators really upped the stakes, thanks to Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which they were able to borrow heavily from.

Agent Triplett (B.J. Britt), who was introduced in the second half of the first season and immediately struck up a flirtation with biochemist Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge), will be back as a member of the team. In a cast photo, two new additions to the team who we didn’t get to see in Season 1 are shown – mercenary Lance Hunter (played by Nick Blood) and mechanic Alphonso “Mack” Mackenzie (played by Henry Simmons). Lucy Lawless will also guest star as Agent Isabelle Hartley, with Twin Peaks‘ Kyle MacLachlan appearing as a mysterious Doctor.

A spin-off series, Agent Carter, starring Hayley Atwell, will premiere in 2015. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is back for its second season on Tuesday, September 23rd.

6. Scandal

We’re on the fence when it comes to ABC’s Scandal. All the ‘WTF’ and ‘OMG’ moments is what makes the Shonda Rhimes show so addicting to watch, but Season 3 may have had one too many ‘WTF’ and ‘OMG’ moments for our liking. We take issue with the very problematic way the writers handled Mellie’s rape storyline, which – by the way – was introduced completely out of the blue.

But, for whatever reason, Scandal is impossible to quit. Perhaps we’ve just gotten way too invested in Olivia Pope’s life. We’re hoping beyond hope that she somehow gets her shit together and ends up with a normal, unmarried guy who isn’t a killing machine or the President of the United States.